


Operation: Terms of Endearment

by abrightgrayworld



Category: Leverage
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abrightgrayworld/pseuds/abrightgrayworld
Summary: "Oh my god. Oh my god, Parker. I kissed Eliot. I kissed him! I called him ‘babe’!”Parker leaps off the beam and lands in a crouch directly in front of him. She stands up and bops him on the nose. “I know,” she says serenely, a wild grin on her face. “I was there.”--Alec accidentally calls Eliot 'babe,' Parker thinks pet names are a great idea to ease Eliot into the idea of being in a relationship with them, and somehow it turns into a competition and just escalates from there.





	Operation: Terms of Endearment

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a conversation a few of us had in the Leverage discord a couple of months ago. I wrote this just now and I have to wake up in four hours...is it worth it? Present-me thinks yes, future-me will probably come around?
> 
> First Leverage fic but this OT3 has skyrocketed into my fave ship of all time. Hope you enjoy, and comments/kudos are my lifeblood! I would love to hear how I did with the character voices, since that's something I struggle with! Thanks, and hope you enjoy!

It’s a quiet evening in their apartment. Eliot’s downstairs in the brewpub’s kitchen, wrapping up for the night and storing leftovers to bring up later. From where she’s balanced on a ceiling beam, Parker licks her lips. Eliot’s black noodles were served tonight, and she can’t wait to dig into it for breakfast tomorrow, no matter how much Eliot’s face will scrunch in affectionate disgust.

She lies on her stomach along the beam and rests her chin on her hands, gazing down into the apartment. Alec is set up at his workstation, a look of intense concentration on his face as he preps for their next job, which starts in a couple of days. Parker watches his long fingers fly across multiple keyboards, his gaze snapping between screens as he compiles and synthesizes information. She’s taken to watching him work, especially on nights when she can’t sleep and he’s awake and working. His movements are hypnotic, lulling Parker into a state of something approaching peace, soothing her skin whenever she feels like she’s itching to get out of her body. She’s lulled now, and marvels at how much she cherishes this quiet, something she would never have done five years ago.

She hears quiet footsteps coming up and switches her focus to the door. Eliot comes in with arms full of leftovers. His hair wisps near his shoulders, growing long again—Parker loves it long, and she can’t wait until she can play with it again. He hip-checks the door closed and moves into the kitchen, starting to put things away.

And then Eliot pauses and glances at Alec, and his face softens, his expression melting into something warm and tender. Parker feels it intimately, because it’s what she feels for Alec, too, right down to her bones. (It’s what she feels for Eliot as well, but that will take time, Alec says, and he knows feelings best of the three of them, so Parker is begrudgingly listening to that, for now.) Eliot reopens the fridge and pulls out a Styrofoam container, and Parker sees that it contains lasagna, one of Alec’s favourites. He pops it into a foil-covered tray, reheats it in the oven, then places it on a plate and walks over to Hardison, a fork in his hand.

“Hardison,” Eliot says. Alec doesn’t respond, doesn’t even realize he’s there, and Parker smiles into her hands as Eliot rolls his eyes heavenward. Eliot waves the plate in front of Alec’s face, and that does it—Alec’s eyes focus on the food, and he grabs it.

“I am _starving_ , oh my god. This smells amazing. _Thank you_.” Eliot hands him the fork, and Alec shoves it into his mouth, humming appreciatively even as his attention drifts back to the monitors.

“Uh-uh,” Eliot says, snapping his fingers in front of Alec’s face, and Parker huffs a laugh. as his hands settle on his hips. He looks like Sophie when she’s annoyed with Nate. “I’m not leaving until you’re done. Finish it, then back to work.”

He doesn’t have to wait long; Alec licks the plate clean and hands it to Eliot, before swiveling his chair to the computers. Eliot sighs. “Fork, Hardison,” he says, but his time’s up; Alec’s back in the zone. Parker watches Eliot roll his eyes again before leaning across Hardison to pluck the fork dangling loosely from his hand.

And then, just as Eliot pulls back, Parker watches in glee and suspense as Alec leans forward, grabs his chin, and kisses his cheek softly, completely absent-mindedly. It’s something he does to her when she’s in his workspace.

Eliot’s expression is _priceless_. Parker is going to remember it for the rest of her life. His mouth opens and closes, his eyes wide, his face gobsmacked.  

“Thanks, babe,” Alec murmurs, in that way that makes feel Parker all tingly and warm inside, and then he’s lost in his screens again.

To Parker’s utter delight, at the term of endearment, Eliot actually _blushes_. The pink spreads through his cheeks to his ears, and he spends a few more moments gaping at Hardison before snapping his mouth closed and going to clean up, still seeming stunned.

Parker moves into a sitting position on the beam and punches the air a few times in triumph, grinning so widely her cheeks hurt. This thing with Eliot might not take as long as Alec seems to think, and as soon as he’s done his research, she and Alec are going to talk.

She wonders if _she_ could make Eliot blush like that. She entertains various scenarios to make that happen, and the hours pass until Alec finally shuts off his monitors.

***

It’s late, and Alec’s exhausted. The apartment is quiet, the only lights on the ones by his workstation. He eases himself out of his chair, thanking the universe that he’s young enough that his joints don’t hurt that much, and stretches his muscles, making sure to take time on his wrist exercises. He is _not_ going to get carpal tunnel, thank you very much.

Parker’s probably not asleep tonight; she’s taken to staying up with him as he works, though often in her own space. Eliot’s probably asleep in his room, though; his sleep patterns have gotten a lot better in the time he’s been with the team, and though he gets up absurdly early, he’s getting healthier amounts of sleep.

Speaking of Eliot, he’d brought lasagna earlier, and that’s likely the only reason Alec’s not passed out from exhaustion right now. Alec yawns, bringing his fist to his face. God bless Eliot, honestly. The man deserves the highest of praises, not that Alec will ever say that to his face—or did he say it earlier? Alec thinks back and—

“ _Holy shit!_ ” he whispers loudly, just remembering to keep his voice down. He’s instantly wired, all traces of tiredness leaving his body. “Oh no, oh no, I did not do that. I did not!”

“I’m pretty sure you did,” Parker says, and Alec squeaks, slapping a hand over his mouth just in time.

“Parker, girl, I have told you a gazillion times not to do that!” he hisses, looking up into the ceiling where his girlfriend is looking down at him. He goes back to hyperventilating over the original problem. “Oh my god. Oh my god, Parker. I kissed Eliot. I kissed him! I called him ‘babe’!”

Parker leaps off the beam and lands in a crouch directly in front of him. She stands up and bops him on the nose. “I know,” she says serenely, a wild grin on her face. “I was there.”

“Oh my gooooooood,” Alec moans. “I messed up. We were supposed to go slow!”

Parker crosses her arms, still grinning, and cuts off Alec’s babble. “He blushed.”

Alec stops and stares at her. “He what?”

“You kissed his cheek, and he was shocked, and then you called him “babe” in an extra-pretzels-y way, and he blushed.” Parker is bouncing now, vibrating with excitement. “He liked it, Alec.”

“Oh,” Alec says, and his world spins for a minute as he processes that. “It was one time, though. He could brush it off.”

Parker’s grin turns devious. “So let’s not make it one time. Why don’t we call him pretzels-y things and kiss him more often?”

Alec sputters. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on, Parker. I still think that’s going too fast for him. You said it yourself: he was shocked, right? If we spring this on him, he's going to spook. Plus, consent is important. I kissed him by accident, and maybe he liked it, but it wasn't right to do it without asking. That's something that needs a conversation.”

Parker sighs. “Yeah,” she mutters. “Okay, what about a compromise? No kisses, but we go all out with compliments and, you know,” she waves her hands around, “Terms of endearment. That’s still slow, right? We can build up to it.”

Alec thinks about it. It could help confirm Eliot’s feelings about them, and terms of endearment would open Eliot up to the idea that they’re serious, and they could build up to a confession. A grand unveiling of their feelings: “Hey, Eliot, Parker and I are desperately in love with you and want to do romantic verbs with you; have you noticed how much we appreciate you? Because we so do. That's why we've been extra compliment-y and pet name-y lately. Wanna join our relationship and be our boyfriend and yell at us romantically and have amazing sex with us, because you are a hot piece of ass?”

That’ll take a bit of rewording, but that’s okay; Alec’s eloquent as hell.

“Fine,” he says, and Parker cheers softly and launches herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. “Let’s do this. But first, bed, please? I’m gonna become one with the floor if we don’t sleep.”

Parker nods, and they settle into bed, with Alec the little spoon. He wonders if Eliot is a big spoon or little spoon and thinks hazily that maybe he’ll get to find out soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! <3 Subsequent chapters hopefully coming in the dead of night to a computer near you! :D


End file.
